Southwest Virginia Counties Modernize Schools

PISCATAWAY, N.J., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FourVirginia counties are funding a combined $18 million in school building renovations by leveraging the future energy and operating cost savings the upgrades create. The results are: significant improvements to classrooms, school infrastructure and educational environment for students and staff.

Dickenson,Lee,Tazewell andWise counties share many commonalities: they're located in a coal region in the southern part of the state, a generally rural area where schools sometimes have trouble finding capital for improvements. As a result, many district buildings are aging, use inefficient building systems and are often physically uncomfortable for students and teachers.

All four school districts entered into performance contracts with Trane to fund facility upgrades. This is allowing each district to make necessary upgrades needed to drive down operating costs while creating high performance learning environments that are quiet, bright, comfortable and productive. Plus, these schools are making a significant positive contribution to the environment every year equal to:

    -- Planting 1,521 mature trees (14-year-old trees) or
    -- Removing 1,310 cars from the road or
    -- Powering 259 homes (average 2800 kWh usage per month) or
    -- Saving 15,637,914 pounds of CO2, 198,451 pounds of acid rain, 66,150
       pounds of smog or
    -- Saving 13,841,174 gallons of water and 793,803 gallons of gasoline.

About the schools

Wise County School District entered into a performance agreement to cover five of its 22 schools. After in-depth building analysis, Trane updated the schools' comfort, lighting and water systems while adding a greater level of control to all of its building systems. Today, the schools are seeing improved learning environments and energy savings exceeding the expected amount by approximately 12 percent. The project was so successful the district has entered into another 15-year performance contract for six more schools in the district.

"These projects have been a facility director's dream," said Francis Williams, facility director,Wise County Public Schools. "The performance contracting process allowed us to make much-needed repairs and upgrade systems in 11 of our schools."

Lee County officials learned of the changes atWise and embarked upon a similar effort in all 16 of the county's schools. "We were pleased with the Trane performance contract. This project allowed us to include the replacement of a chilled water plant with the water and lighting upgrades, while lowering our utility costs," said Fred Marion, superintendent,Lee County Schools.

Tazewell County is now improving the environment and operating costs in 17 schools, including Graham High School where steam heat was creating a less than ideal environment. "At Graham High School, our goal was to replace an inefficient boiler at the school. By taking this action, we have improved the health and productivity of both students and staff," said Dr. Brenda Lawson, superintendent,Tazewell County Public Schools. "By partnering with Trane through performance contracting, we now have learning environments that are healthy, comfortable and well lit. Even our youngest learners have noticed the improvements!"

Dickenson County School District is renovating and improving nine of its schools -- the newest of which is 30 years old. "The performance contracting process made it possible for us to make improvements to all of our schools, including necessary HVAC and controls upgrades inClintwood andClinchco elementary schools," said Judy Compton, superintendent,Dickenson County Public Schools. "We are proud that we have increased the efficiency and comfort level of our schools for both students and staff."

"We're thrilled to bring the necessary analysis and improvements to these schools to improve the comfort, cost and learning environment," said Bill Upthegrove, Trane's high performance schools leader forVirginia. "Performance contracting is ideal for districts with five to 30 schools with limited access to funding for facility and learning environment upgrades. With performance contracting, schools are being responsible to students, teachers, tax payers and the environment."

About Trane Building Services

Trane Building Services is dedicated to optimizing the performance of buildings around the globe. Trane's suite of High Performance Building offers includes Energy Retrofit Services, Performance Contracting, Turn-key Services, and Comprehensive Solutions. All are customized and scalable, enabling building owners and executives to realize the benefits of high performance buildings and maximize their return on investment in building systems for the life of the building. One of the early developers of energy conscious applications and methods, Trane has received numerous environmental awards including the Sustainable Building Industry Council Best Practices Award, the U.S. EPA Climate Protection Award, the U.S. EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award and the Federal Energy and Water Management Award. Trane has the largest percentage of USGBC LEED accredited professionals in the industry. As a certified Energy Service Company (ESCO) and tenured member of ASHRAE, ARI, and USGBC, Trane is dedicated to environmentally conscious building design and maintenance.

About Trane

Trane Inc. (NYSE: TT) provides heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and services that enhance the quality and comfort of the air in homes and buildings around the world. The company offers customers a broad range of energy-efficient HVAC systems; dehumidifying and air cleaning products; service and parts support; advanced building controls; and financing solutions. The company's HVAC systems and services have leading positions in premium commercial, residential, institutional and industrial markets; a reputation for reliability, high quality and product innovation; and a powerful distribution network. Trane's 2007 annual revenues were approximately $7.45 billion and the company has about 29,600 employees worldwide. For more information, visit these Web sites: www.trane.com and www.americanstandardair.com.

On Feb. 1, 2007, Trane, then known as American Standard Companies and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "ASD," announced plans to separate its three businesses. On July 31, 2007, the company completed the spinoff of its Vehicle Control Systems business as an independent company known as WABCO (NYSE: WBC). On Oct. 31, 2007, the company sold its Bath and Kitchen business to funds advised by Bain Capital Partners, LLC. On Nov. 28, 2007, the company changed its name to Trane to reflect its focus on its remaining business, Air Conditioning Systems and Services. On Dec. 17, 2007, Trane announced that it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (NYSE: IR). The agreement is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2008.

SOURCE Trane

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